ALBANY, N.Y. – Despite three in double-digits, Colgate could not outlast the reigning America East Champions Albany here Thursday night.
 
Behind a season-high shooting night from downtown, Albany pushed past the Raiders 88-67. The Great Danes drained 12 treys in the contest, after hitting only two combined in their opening two games.
 
Of those 12 makes from downtown, Albany saw Ray Sanders go 6-for-6 from behind-the-arc for a career-high scoring night. He finished shooting 8-for-10 for his game-high 24 points.
 
The Raiders were led by Austin Tillotson's season-high 17 points. First-year Dave Krmpotich and sophomore Jordan Swopshire also contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively. On the boards, rookie Malcolm Regisford pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds, while Krmpotich also notched a game and career-high three blocks.
 
Colgate jumped in front early in a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes. But the Great Danes came back to make it 27-19 in their favor midway through the period.
 
After a good free throw from Krmpotich, the Raiders were within 29-25 with under five minutes to play but a 14-2 run created a 43-27 gap between the teams with one minute remaining in the first half.
 
After the teams broke from halftime, Albany kept the Raiders scoreless for nearly the first four minutes, extending its lead to 47-30.
 
The Great Danes then pushed their advantage to a game-high 26 points on two occasions but the Raiders would not go away.
 
With 5:30 remaining on the clock, Colgate forced its host into five quick turnovers in a two and a half minute span to make it a 78-64 ballgame. During that time, the Raiders used a 16-4 run to cut the deficit down.
 
Unfortunately, that would be as close as Colgate would come as the Great Danes held on to secure the victory.
 
Colgate finished the night shooting 45.1 percent from the floor on 23-of-51 makes. The Raiders also went 6-of-15 (40%) from long range and 15-of-19 (78.9%) from the charity stripe.
 
The Raiders continue their road swing at Fordham on Tuesday. That contest is slated for an 8 p.m. tip. Live stats and video will be available at the start.
 
Bottom Line
• Albany 88, Colgate 67
• The Raiders saw the Great Danes shoot a season-best 52.7 percent from the floor and 63.2 percent from downtown.
 
Won-Lost Records
• Albany grabs its first win of the early season and shifts to 1-2 on the year.
• Colgate dips to 1-2.    
 
Facts & Figures
• Tillotson went for a team and season-best 17 points in the contest.
• The senior went 6-for-12 from the floor, 3-for-4 from long and 2-for-2 from the line.
• He also added a game-high four helpers, while posting a season-best three steals.
• Krmpotich notched a career-high 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting for the first double-figure scoring night of his young career.   
• Swopshire recorded his third-straight double-digit scoring contest with 14 points.
• He converted on a career-best 7-of-8 makes from the charity stripe as well.
• Regisford pulled down 10 boards in the match for his first career double-figure rebounding effort.  
• Colgate went 23-for-51 from the floor to finish the night shooting 45.1 percent. The Raiders also added 6-of-15 from long and 15-of-19 from the line for 40 and 78.9 percent shooting, respectively.
• The Raiders outrebounded their host 34-29 but 20 turnovers to Albany's 13 proved to be a problem.  
• The Great Danes scored 27 points off of turnovers, and had 10 points off of second chance opportunities. Colgate registered 21 and 13 points, respectively.
• Albany notched 30 points from inside the paint to Colgate's 24.
• The Raiders finished with 23 bench points, while the Great Danes compiled 26.
• Colgate held the lead for 2:26 in the early part of the game. The contest was then tied for 1:43 before Albany pulled ahead and held the edge for the remainder of the match.
 
Albany's Numbers
• Sanders posted a game and career-high 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting with 6-of-6 makes from downtown.      
• Evan Singletary also recorded double-figures after matching his career-high 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting.   
• Peter Hooley closed out the Great Danes' in double-digits with 11 points.
• Sanders and Richard Peters led the hosts with six rebounds each.
• The Great Danes' shooting mark of 52.7 percent from the floor was a season-best. Their 12-of-19 makes from behind-the-arc was also a season-high.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance in SEFCU Arena on Thursday was 3,711.

Straight From The Source
• Colgate head coach Matt Langel: (on his thoughts from the game) "When a team shoots as well as they did it makes it really hard for a young group like us to kind of stay afloat. I think that's what happened to us tonight. We turned it over needlessly, way to often in the first half. They're not a team that I think tries to force turnovers and pressure but we made some careless, careless plays. Some of it is inexperience; some of it is just not being ready to go. When you add that to their great shooting it can unravel pretty quickly."
 
"That's the Albany group that everybody is expecting going into this year. Their Kentucky game was obviously a really difficult game and for whatever reason, at least on film, they just didn't make a lot of shots against Boston University. If they had shot even remotely as well as they did tonight it might have been a different story. They've got great veteran leadership in Peter (Hooley) and Evan (Singletary) and I think they really make the ship run. They're very discipline as a group. They do what the coach wants; and they are a championship program for a reason. They pay attention, they execute together as a group and they play extremely hard."
 
(On his young team early in the season) "In Austin Tillotson we've got a guy who's been around the block. He's had some success as a player and was a part of a team last year that competed for a championship in our league. He was a big part of that. Obviously he has a totally different role this year. I think he's feeling a little like this is his last go-around and he's got to score because he doesn't have the experience around him. But more than that, he's got to find his leadership role and how he can help some of these other guys, who I think we've got some guys with talent. (Malcolm) Regisford had a really good game the other night as a first-year center. (Jordan) Swopshire is a transfer and he's been around 15 points per game for three games. We've got some good depth and some good young guys. Its just a matter of us continuing to get better."
 
"George Mason beat Old Miss in Charleston this morning and we opened up the season with a win at George Mason, so I think it's a little bit of a tale of a young team. Our focus as coaches is we just have to keep getting better. When its game day I know you want to compete like crazy, I know you want to win, but you've got to focus on all the little things that we're talking about that are going to get us where we need to be later in the season."
                                                                                                                                                                       
Next Up
• Colgate continues its six-game road stand on Tuesday at Atlantic 10 foe Fordham.
• The contest is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tip.
• The Rams play host to Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday before welcoming the Raiders.
• Live stats and video are available at the start.